1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of a single-piece woven garment which can be converted into a full-body garment, similar to an overall or a hospital gown, using a minimum number of seams and/or a minimum amount of cutting. The garment is made from a single two-dimensional fabric, with the various parts produced as a single piece. Additionally, the garment can include an integrated infrastructure component for collecting, processing, transmitting and receiving information, giving it intelligence capability.
2. Background of the Art
Conventional techniques for fashioning garments include using a pattern to form pieces of the garment, followed by cutting and sewing these pattern pieces to create a garment. The seams of conventionally-constructed garments may bind the wearer, causing discomfort and agitation. This invention reduces the number of operations involved in creating a garment. Moreover, it provides a means for inserting one or more yarns continuously throughout the fabric without any discontinuities encountered in traditional weaving.
Co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/157,607, filed on Sep. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,551 to Jayaraman, et al., discloses a full-fashioned weaving process for the production of a woven garment having armholes. The garment is a single integrated piece in which there are no discontinuities or seams, and the armholes result from the weaving process itself, not from cutting or sewing. However, the garment produced by the Jayaraman process does not include sleeves or legs, merely openings for the same.
A need therefore exists for a process to produce a full-fashioned, one piece, garment with sleeves and legs which minimizes the need for cutting and sewing fabric parts to fashion the garment. It is such a process and product to which the present invention is primarily directed. When the cutting and sewing process of the present invention is employed, the steps of cutting and sewing side seams for sleeves and legs are minimized.
Co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/273,175, filed on Mar. 19, 1999, and also U.S. Ser. No. 09/157,607, filed on Sep. 21, 1998, both by Jayaraman et al., disclose a fabric or garment which includes an integrated infrastructure component for collecting, processing, transmitting and receiving information. The garment functions as a xe2x80x9cwearable motherboard,xe2x80x9d which, by utilizing the interconnection of conductive fibers, integrates many data-collecting sensors into the garment without the need for multiple stand alone wires or cables. The information obtained may be transmitted to several monitoring devices through a single electronic lead or transceiver.
Utilizing the process of the present invention and the interconnection of electrical conductive fibers, optical fibers, or both, of the co-pending Jayaraman applications, it is possible to produce a one-piece garment with sleeves and legs, similar to an overall, which incorporates an integrated infrastructure component for collecting, processing, transmitting and receiving information.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a one-piece garment with legs, and optionally with sleeves, which garment is comprised of only a single integrated piece of woven, knitted or nonwoven fabric and seams.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process to produce a one-piece, garment with legs, and optionally with sleeves, which garment is comprised of only a single integrated piece and seams.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a one-piece garment with legs, and optionally with sleeves, which can include intelligence capability, such as the ability to monitor one or more body physical signs and/or penetration of the garment, and a process for making such a garment.
In the one-piece garment of the present invention, a single piece of fabric is cut and formed into a garment having minimal seams. Unlike the structure of a conventional garment made of fabric (woven, knitted or nonwoven), where several pieces of fabric need to be sewn together to make a xe2x80x9cone-piecexe2x80x9d garment, the present invention provides that a single piece of fabric may be cut, folded and sewn to form a xe2x80x9cone-piecexe2x80x9d garment, optionally having sleeves. Because of the ease of this process, garments can be fashioned out of two-dimensional woven, knitted or nonwoven fabrics with minimal cutting and sewing.
The present invention is directed to a process for producing a one-piece garment from a single piece of two-dimensional fabric comprising forming the fabric into a shape having (1) a mid-panel with a first side edge and a second side edge opposite thereto, and a first end edge and a second end edge opposite thereto, (2) an end panel attached to said second end edge at approximately the midpoint of the end edge and extending beyond the first side edge, and (3) a second end panel attached to said first end edge at approximately the midpoint of the end edge and extending beyond the second side edge. The fabric is then formed into a one-piece garment by folding the cut fabric along a first horizontal fold line located at the midpoint of the mid-panel, cutting the fabric at approximately the midpoint of the first horizontal fold line of the mid-panel, resulting in a hole big enough to accommodate a subject""s head, folding the cut fabric along a first vertical fold line of the first end panel, wherein the fold is located at the second side edge of the mid-panel, folding the cut fabric along a second vertical fold line of the second end panel, wherein the fold is located at the first side edge of the mid-panel, and securing the resulting met edges of the fabric.
In the process of the present invention, a single piece of fabric can easily be converted into an overall or other full-body garment, similar to a hospital gown, with a top and legs using a minimum number of joins/seams. The present invention consists of a two-dimensional fabric with the various parts of the overall produced as a single piece. The process of the present invention can be modified to produce a garment with sleeves.
In a further embodiment, the one-piece garment made in accordance with the present invention may be fashioned into a garment having intelligence capacity. The garment can be provided with means for monitoring one or more body vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature, as well as for monitoring garment penetration. The one-piece structure, which can be produced either with or without sleeves, allows for monitoring of vital signs of a patient, including monitoring of vital signs under a patient""s arm.
The intelligent one-piece garment consists of a base fabric (xe2x80x9ccomfort componentxe2x80x9d), and at least one sensing component forming an information infrastructure. The sensing component can be either a penetration sensing material component or an electrical conductive material component, or both. The preferred penetration sensing component is plastic optical fiber (POF). The preferred electrical conductive component is either a doped inorganic fiber with polyethylene, nylon or other insulating sheath, or a thin gauge metal wire with polyethylene sheath. Optionally, the fabric can include a form-fitting component, such as SPANDEX fiber, or a static dissipating component, such as NEGA-STAT, depending upon need and application. Each of these components can be incorporated into the full-fashioned weaving process disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 09/157,607 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/273,175, each of which is incorporated by reference it its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
The sensing component can, among other things, serve one or both of the following two main functions: (i) it can help detect projectile penetration; and (ii) it can serve as a xe2x80x9cdata busxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmotherboardxe2x80x9d for transferring information or data to and from other devices that are in communication with it. These capabilities can be used together or individually. The electrically conducting fibers can help carry information from sensors (mounted on the human/animal body or incorporated into the fabric structure) to monitoring devices to monitor heart rate, breathing rate, voice and/or any other desired body physical property. Thus, the present invention will create a flexible, one-piece garment, with or without sleeves, having a wearable information infrastructure that will facilitate the xe2x80x9cpluggingxe2x80x9d in of devices for gathering/processing information concerning its wearer. Instead of both POF and conducting fibers, the fabric or garment can incorporate just conducting fibers and not the POF, or vice versa, depending on the desired end-use application. The number, length and pitch (thread spacing) of the POF can be varied to suit the desired end-use requirement. Similarly, the number, length and pitch (thread spacing) of the conducting fibers can be varied to suit the end-use requirement.
It can be seen from the description herein of our invention that a one-piece garment, with or without sleeves, can be formed from a single piece of two-dimensional fabric requiring minimal cutting and sewing, and by which a garment with intelligence capability can be made. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.